Day to day journal of installation, embroidery, and fiber arts created by Susan Lenz

Monday, March 05, 2012

First Piece done ... and a 5th Bday Bash

(Above: Stained Glass XXIX, detail of upper middle. This is the first piece I've finished at The Studios of Key West during my residency! Click on image to enlarge. The rest of the photos of this work are toward the bottom of this blog post.)

Time is already racing by here at The Studios of Key West. Every day there's something going on! Busy, busy, busy!

But first ... here are the promised photos of my accommodations in the newly renovated cottage at 607 Ashe Street!

This is my bedroom for the month ... complete with a big overstuffed chair and ottoman for late night hand stitching!

Across from the bedroom and entry hall is the studio space ... which, obviously, I've taken over! It is wonderful to have my palette of polyester velvets spread out all over the floor where I can see all the colors! A hollow door and two sawhorses were made into my over-sized ironing board. On the floor are also two photo transfers on pieces of a vintage blue-and-white quilt. I completed the transfers at home but brought the hand stitching to do here in Florida.

Here's another angle of my new studio space ... which also shows the desk on which I've placed my laptop. It is a perfect location for blogging!

This view shows the privacy door between my live/work space and the rest of the building. (Above me is another live/work space currently used by artist-in-resident Kristen Michelle, an actress.)

The public had been invited through fliers, Facebook, and email invitations and many came dressed for the occasion!

This was the public's first official chance to tour the residency accommodations. Amazingly, the capital campaign, blueprints, and construction were all completed within a single year! This is undoubtedly something to celebrate!

By later in the afternoon, the gardens were totally filled.

There were a few announcements and an incredible raffle.

All the staff deserved the applause they received ....

... and then it was time for the Birthday cake!

So ... what were guests seeing in my studio space? They were able to see Stained Glass XXIX under construction.

Yesterday I stitched the piece and today I poked holes in it with my regular and fine tipped soldering irons. I did this on the porch ... allowing the fumes to blow away in the island breeze.

After melting the reverse with a heat gun, it was finished. Of course, there's not really a great place to "officially" take good quality photos here in my Florida residency. Thus, the forth porch had to be used!

Above is the top quarter. The upper middle photo led this blog post.

Above is the lower middle.

This is the bottom.

By the way, I finished the hand stitching and button edges on the two photo transfers (except that I forgot my white vintage buttons for the bottom edge of my Great, great grandma on the left. There's absolutely no way to capture these image here ... too much warm sunshine for the acrylic surfaces. I'll shot them at home! Now ... on to the next piece!

What a wonderful place to live and work for a month! It's also warm and sunny. The bash looks like a complete success. So many people curious about what artists do! Your new piece is beautiful. Is it lighter in color as well as being photographed differently? I've never seen those photo transfer pictures before. Where do you find all your 'stuff'?? I'm working on a hardanger piece. I seem to only be able to do one piece at a time. Anything else makes me nervous. Looking forward to the next post!

Susan...What a wonderful, beautiful, comfortable place to have for an artist retreat! Your stained glass piece is exquisite; the pictures on the porch were very clearly showing a magnificent construct, The photo transfer works were also grand... so much good work while at this great place.The supporters of the facility are most certainly a strong force for the arts...a beautiful facility and what an honor to have been selected for an opportunity to work there for a month.I appreciate all the photos you have in this blog.Kristin

Ha ha Susan! love your tonado-ridden studio! (you're sure at work here)The stained-glass-windows are so vibrant (I take it you "burn" outside ... because of the bad fumes ...?)The big prints on the blue quilt are góód! (ha, black buttons this time)

Hello Susan! I'm excited to see you in the cottage as I was just there. I moved out on the 29th of February and wondered what/who would be in there next. I found I did great work in that space as well. I really look forward to updates about your time in Key West and at The Studios.

Your work is fantastic. Loved that big comfy chair.

Enjoy every minute. It goes fast.

I wish I could have been at that 5th anniversary party too. TSKW do deserve all the credit for their success, as do the citizens of Key West :)

WORK FOR SALE!

About Me

Using a needle and thread for self-expression, I
work to create art that reflects my interest in the concept of time.Memory, universal mortality, and personal
legacy are central themes.Vintage and
recycled materials are combined with meticulous handwork. Stitched text and
free motion machine embroidery add visual and emotional layers. Work is often
exhibited in an installation format in order to better communicate message
through an accessible atmosphere.I am drawn
to textiles for their tactile qualities and often make work that is meant to
touch and be touched.

Current and Upcoming

TEDxColumbiaSC, January 19th at Haribson Theater at Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College, 7300 College Street, Irmo, SC. Susan is one of the presenters! Her "idea worth sharing" is in a talk called Precious. VIDEO COMING SOON!ART QUILTS at the Georgetown Art Center, Georgetown, TX. March 13 through April 12. This invitational exhibit will include two of Susan's Stained Glass pieces (Window CV and Window XCVII) as well as four Grave Rubbing Art Quilts: Only Child, Ready for Burial, The Virgin of Guadalupe, and The Just By Faith Shall Live Again.

ARTQUILTSreminisce, a PAQA-South national juried exhibition at the Page-Walker Art & History Center in Cary, NC from April 22 - June 21, 2015. Reception on April 24 from 6 - 8 PM. Included piece: Handed Down.

Text Messages, a SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Association) traveling exhibition premiering at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX from Oct. 31 - Nov. 4, 2013. Moving to The International Quilt Festival in Chicago, IL from June 20 -22, 2014; the International Quilt Festival in Portand, OR from Aug. 13 - 16, 2014; the Round Bobbin Quilting and Sewing Expo in St. Charles, MO from Sept. 19-20, 2014; Morris Museum in Morrison, NJ from Nov. 14, 2015 - Mar. 20, 2016. Included piece: Texting From the Grave.

OPEN STUDIOS, a 701 CCA event in Richland county, South Carolina. Saturday, April 11th from 10 - 6 and Sunday, April 12th from noon - 6. Susan's "Home" studio and house (Mouse House, Inc.), 2123 Park Street, will be part of this free-to-the-public event. There will be some "special" prices on art, mirrors, and other items. This is the same day at the Historic Elmwood Park Tour of Homes which includes Mouse House. This is a ticketed event but Susan's house is FREE!

The Liberated Quilt: New Workfrom Through Our Hands, Bilston Craft Gallery, Bilston, West Midlands, UK, May 9 - July 25, 2015. Included work: I Do / I Don't, an installation of wedding veils.

Southern Highlights, an invitational fiber exhibition at the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts in Melbourne, FL from May 15 - Aug. 22nd. Included piece: Death of Desire.

Velocity of Textiles, a Chattahoochee Handweavers Guild juried exhibition at the Ernest G. Welch Gallery, School of Art and Design at Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA from June 4 - July 31, 2015. Included piece: Ancestors in a Fiber Vessel.

Maker, Making, Made, Through Our Hands Exhibition at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, UK. August 6 - 9, 2015. Included piece: The Wall of Keys. Also, Susan is presenting two lectures: Precious, an expanded adaptation of her TEDxColumbiaSC presentation on Thurs., Aug. 6 from 11 - 11:45 AM and Beyond a Series: Taking Work to the Next Level on Fri., Aug. 7 from 12:15 - 1:00 PM.

Artist Statement

Generally using needle and thread for self-expression, Susan Lenz works to articulate the accumulated memory inherent in discarded things.She seeks a partnership with her materials, their purposes, values, and familiar associations. Memory, universal mortality, and personal legacy are central themes.Vintage and recycled materials are combined with meticulous handwork.Susan is drawn to textiles for their tactile qualities and often makes work that is meant to touch and be touched.